Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Ready Player One

i’m only glad i read this book so i can now know how bad it is? it’s not a crime to like this book, i even found it ironically enjoyable in a way, but if you find yourself uneasy with it just know YOU ARE NOT ALONE, THIS IS BECAUSE IT IS A BAD BOOK. it’s not only so poorly written, it is deeply problematic and unfortunately not aware of itself in any type of way, where that could have been insightful. books like these are often framed as “but it’s just lots of fun!” or “escapism” and etc. but my issue with that is don’t introduce themes into your book unless you are going to address them properly and it’s not like i would trust Ernest Cline to address anything properly (he wrote this book about as well as he could have) but regardless. i don’t even feel like going into all the problems with this story, there’s enough critical analysis about it out there as is, and also i exhausted even thinking about it more than i already have. moving on!

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sp4ceprince's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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spell_kell's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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abithereader's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

2.0

This is very much a YA book, but is fully of 80s references that most YA readers are too young to understand. The plot and setting has potential but Cline is so focused on info dumping and making 80s references that not enough thought is put on the plot itself. Wade is an incredibly unlikeable self insert character/ author surrogate (Cline has a car that is a replica of Wade's car in the OASIS).

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kaylamoran's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

It does get a bit rambly at times (explaining all of the many references made in the book) but overall I really enjoyed it!

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paracosim's review against another edition

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This was the most cringey, wish-fulfillment jammed novel I’ve ever had the misfortune to pick up. I was (very) hesitantly willing to read on even after reading the line, “and everybody clapped,” without any irony...and then it suddenly became very racist and transphobic. I am most certainly not interested in finishing this novel, watching the movie, or looking up any of the author’s other books. 0/10 read for me.

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